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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28417494">Gold and Blood</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilwriter37/pseuds/evilwriter37'>evilwriter37</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>DreamWorks Dragons (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blood, Episode: s04e08-09 Edge of Disaster, F/M, Fighting, Whump, hair cutting</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 18:16:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,395</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28417494</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilwriter37/pseuds/evilwriter37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Alternate ending to Edge of Disaster Part 2. Hiccup and his friends are captured by Ryker, who will do anything to unearth the whereabouts of the Dragon Eye.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>36</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Gold and Blood</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Prompt: “It’d be a shame if someone you loved got hurt. I know how much your friends mean to you.”</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“It’d be a shame if someone you loved got hurt. I know how much your friends mean to you.” There was a cruel smile on Ryker’s face as he leaned back against his desk. Hiccup struggled against the chair he was tightly tied to. He and his friends had failed in their defense of Dragon’s Edge, even with the wild dragons Hiccup had brought along, and were now held captive on a Hunter ship. Hiccup had been singled out and taken to Ryker’s quarters. The intimidation tactics weren’t making him talk though. Hiccup had wondered why he didn’t just harm him, but now, he understood. He knew it wouldn’t work on him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, Ryker!” Hiccup stopped his struggling, panting. “Just… just use me. You’ll get it from me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, so you’re going to tell me where you hid the Dragon Eye?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hiccup didn’t say anything, just glared. In reality, he had no idea where his friends had hidden the Dragon Eye. He’d tasked Astrid with that. She and Tuffnut would know, maybe even Ruffnut, but she had been captured rather early on in the Hunters’ assault of the Edge. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay.” Ryker stood up straight, cupped his hands around his mouth. “Bring them in!” he shouted to guards that were likely right outside. So his friends had been right outside the whole time. Ryker had known it would come to this. He wasn’t as dumb as he looked, Hiccup supposed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And then in came his friends, struggling, arms bound behind their backs, corralled at spear and axe point.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Now it’s a party,” Ryker said. The Riders were lined up by the Hunters that had brought them in. Ryker turned Hiccup’s chair so that he was facing all of them. “Alright. Which one of you dragon fuckers is going to tell me were the Dragon Eye is hidden? We’ve searched the entire island for it and haven’t found anything.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dragon fuckers?!” Snotlout cried. “Now that’s just insulting! I would never-” He was suddenly silenced as Ryker went up and slapped him hard in the face. Snotlout stumbled, fell into Tuffnut, but Tuffnut helped him right himself with his shoulder. The rest of the Riders looked as equally angry at being called that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Never mind that,” Ryker growled. “Dragon Eye. Where is it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Up your butt and around the corner!” Tuffnut exclaimed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ryker didn’t slap Tuffnut. Instead, he punched him. Hard in the stomach. Hiccup yelled as Tuffnut grunted. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ryker, stop it! Don’t hurt them!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ryker spun on Hiccup. “Then tell me where the Dragon Eye is!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hiccup spit in Ryker’s face. Ryker paused, blinked, wiped the spittle away with an angry growl. He didn’t turn his anger on Hiccup. He instead grabbed Astrid by the shoulder and hauled her away from the rest of the Riders. She struggled, tried to bite, but Ryker wasn’t in reach of her mouth. He bent her over the desk, drew his sword, and…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>No!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Hiccup shouted, trying his best to break free from his chair.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Astrid’s braid was sheared off. There were furious tears in her eyes. “I’ll make you </span>
  <em>
    <span>pay</span>
  </em>
  <span> for that,” she said, anger setting fire to her words. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Talk, Hiccup,” Ryker said. Blonde hairs wisped away from his blade. “Or the next thing I’ll be cutting won’t be hair.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I…” Hiccup looked at all of his friends. Could he come up with a good enough lie right on the spot like this? “I…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ryker leveled his sword at Astrid.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know!” Hiccup cried. “Stop it! Stop! I don’t know!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You… don’t know.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hiccup shook his head. “A-Astrid and Tuffnut hid it away. I charged them with it. They know where it is.” Hiccup felt awful for putting this on his friends. He was telling the truth, but he was going to see them get hurt anyway. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I see,” Ryker said. He looked at Astrid and her chopped hair, then at Tuffnut. “Well, either of you going to say something?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Eat dragon shit, you fuck!” Astrid yelled, still being held down over the desk. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ryker didn’t retaliate by hurting Astrid. Instead, he let her go, and strode over to Hiccup, hit him so hard in the face that he saw stars and tasted blood on his lip. “If you don’t talk, I hurt your precious leader.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hiccup looked to Tuffnut and Astrid with fear bright in his eyes. How were they going to get out of this? Hiccup didn’t care about his own pain. He cared about the pain of his friends that they would no doubt experience from watching him be hurt. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ryker grabbed Hiccup by the hair, sliced open his cheek with his sword, right down to the bone. Hiccup screamed at the sudden flash of pain, blood. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Let go of me!” Hiccup shouted. “Let us go!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ryker let go of Hiccup’s hair. “I’m not going anywhere without the Dragon Eye! Someone talk, or bodies are about to drop!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Suddenly, Snotlout flung himself at Ryker. Hiccup thought that such a thing wouldn’t work, but Snotlout had worked himself out of his bindings, and Ryker was taken utterly by surprise. The two went down, began scuffling around on the floor. Ryker came out on top, boot on Snotlout’s chest, sword pointed at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t make me kill you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Suddenly, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Fishlegs </span>
  </em>
  <span>was flinging himself at Ryker! Snotlout must have untied him before all this started, and now, Hiccup could see the rest of his friends untying each other. The guards reacted slowly, still taken by surprise. But then they were fighting, and his friends were jumping out of the way of axes and spears. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Astrid kicked one guard in the groin, grabbed his spear when he dropped it to double over. Then, she drove it right through his throat. Blood spattered. Fishlegs and Ryker were wrestling. Fishlegs was the biggest and strongest Dragon Rider. He could take him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hiccup watched helplessly as his friends took on the guards. Then, Astrid was coming over, slicing quickly through the ropes binding him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks.” Hiccup didn’t have time to rub at his wrists. He kicked at a guard with his prosthetic, knowing the metal would hurt more than a regular foot. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ryker got up, blood streaming from his nose, one of his eyes swollen shut. He looked at all of them, the dead guards, the Riders with weapons, and bolted.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You fucking coward!” Ruffnut shouted at him. She began to run after him, but Snotlout stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No. We have to get our dragons,” Snotlout told her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right, right. Okay.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alarm bells sounded as the Riders ran through the ship. Hiccup was glad he’d be hearing that in his dreams instead of the sounds of his friends’ screams. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I hate it,” Astrid said, slamming the mirror down, putting a crack in the glassy surface. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, I don’t,” Hiccup said. He came over to her, wrapped his arms around her waist. He buried his nose in her soft hair. There was hardly as much of it as there had been before, but it was still definitely soft. And it smelled of Astrid. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Astrid pulled out of his arms, turned to face him. She ran fingers through her hair. “It’s shorter than yours!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, it’ll grow back.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, in a year or two.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hiccup sighed. He held up a hand to put it on Astrid’s shoulder, but stopped, realizing she didn’t want to be touched right now. “I’m sorry he did that to you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Astrid stepped forward, gingerly touched Hiccup’s cheek. Stitches shown through his skin. “And I’m sorry he did </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>to you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hiccup took Astrid’s hand. “But we all got out of it alive. And that’s what matters.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Astrid looked at the Dragon Eye, now unearthed from the coals in the stove in the clubhouse, sitting on Hiccup’s desk. “Is that thing really worth all this?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“To keep dragons from being hunted to extinction?” Hiccup asked. “Yes, I believe it is.” It was hard to say after everything they’d been through, after he and his friends had almost died by Ryker’s swords. But he knew that in his heart, he had to do this. If no one else would protect the dragons, he would. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay.” Astrid shook her head, golden hair swishing. “Okay, okay.” She looked back up at Hiccup. “I’m with you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you, Astrid.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They hugged in the dimming light of the sun.</span>
</p>
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